Exclusion of Sakura Haruno
by HellFire Kitten
Summary: Akatsuki pairings with different Konoha kunoichi. An ode to all the different couples you can create when you just think beyond the usual. Read, review and tell me what you think. This does not include Sakura! Thank you, and good day.
1. I

_**The need to tell you people that this is a variety of different pairings eludes me. Read and guess who it is I am writing about. Then review and tell me what you think about the story..I'm sure you all know the drill. I'll add the chapters consecutively only when someone reviews them.**_

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_**I am the wind that wavers.**_

She shook as she stood, her arms and legs were badly bruised and bleeding in some areas.

Looking across the field at the newest ally of Konoha, the Akatsuki member merely returned her glance.

His blonde hair remained in place as his breath escaped parted, cracked lips. The Akatsuki cloak was long since discarded and his black attire made his overall appearance seem ethereal.

Before she knew it her caramel eyes had closed and she began to fall. Without a moments' notice she landed in a pair of warm arms that held her close. Then the wind parted and they took to the air together.

"You should be more careful, you know." Her head was dizzy and her eyes felt split as she witnessed the world in double vision. "I know." He steadied her as a sculpted dragon took towards the ground.

"Katsu!" With the darkness threatening to engulf her, she witnessed an explosion that shook the woods and destroyed the enemy. "Art is a bang!" She looked to the man holding her loosely in his arms, his eyes were almost clear and held such intensity.

She should have been frightened and maybe a part of her was. "Your wrong." Soon that intensity was transfixed on her and she didn't have to be half dead to know she was in danger.

"Oh. Then what is art?" His voice, so low, so tantalizing. Did he always have to speak that way to her? Maybe it was the way the moon outlined his features or the way the fire that raged below danced within his eyes. She didn't care as she gripped his shoulders and pressed her body and her lips to his.

She didn't care if his eyes closed or not as she wrapped herself around him. She didn't care if he wanted her to do this or not. Before the darkness claimed her she pulled away and grinned ruefully up at his confused gaze. "That is art."

_**You are the certain land.**_


	2. II

_**I am the shadow.**_

It was still dark out when she left for her mission. Hoisting her pack, and finishing her breakfast, she left her house. In the cover of night she leapt from house to house silent as ever but slack in her vigilance.

It was when the gates of Konoha came into view did she feel a presence closing in behind her. Whirling around with a weapon in hand she came face to face with air.

Heightening her senses she waited for a noise, anything to give away the location of her stalker. In a flash of movement she landed several feet away while several swords were implanted in the rooftop where she once stood.

Stepping out from behind a building below was her partner on this mission. His red hair was the only colorful thing on him, the only thing that held life anymore.

For a moment the two just stared at each other before he joined her on the rooftops. "Are we leaving or not?" She glared at him and placed her kunai back in its' holster.

"Impatient? Your immortal remember, you have all the time in the world." His emotionless eyes met her own and she felt as if he could see her soul. He began to walk towards her taking slow strides until they were mere inches apart.

He looked her up and down taking in every inch of her appearance as she waited calmly for his reasoning. Shortly after he walked around her without even saying so much as a word.

Shrugging it off she began to jump off after him, taking to the rooftops and heading away from Konoha. "Mind telling me what that was all about?" The scorpion looked at her once before continuing his trek forward.

"My old partner was raving last week about your art." Tenten cocked her eyebrow at this for she didn't remember who is old partner was. "Personally you don't look like an artist to me."

"I don't remember who your partner was." Another side-long glance was given to her as he registered her expression. "I wouldn't expect you to, not after that nearly fatal mission. You almost died."

Her memory came back to her as a pair of blue eyes, blonde hair and soft lips became prominent in the forefront of her mind. "I am an artist." This time she boosted a leap with chakra to ensure that she would leave him in the dust.

He easily matched her pace, just as she expected and turning to him with her quick reflexes she threw several kunais at him. He easily dodged them and their eyes connected, he wasn't even challenged as she hardened her own gaze.

They both drew their respected scrolls and fought beneath the darkened sky. Several released scrolls and puppets later, she found herself pinned to the sandy ground by his cloaked body.

Her hair had come undone during the spar and now framed her face. The scorpion who perched upon her body, straddling her hips to be precise, took in every inch of her form once more.

Everything from her parted lips, to the defiance in her eyes. She bucked her hips up into his and he merely tightened his grip around her. She was panting and he wasn't even fazed. The sun began to lazily break over the horizon.

"Your skilled enough to be a shinobi, graceful enough to be a kunoichi but still you are no artist." Tired, fed up and completely pissed at the current situation with yet another Akatsuki member, she did what she shouldn't have done.

Yanking one arm free she launched herself forward and ultimately caught him by surprise. She wrapped her arm around the back of his head and pulled him close to her. Purely on instinct did she allow her tongue to slide across his parted lips.

Immediately she was cut off but not discouraged, her lips found themselves trailing from his chin to his earlobe. "Art is a feeling. You claim to have no feelings but you lie. By pushing chakra to an area of your skin you can feel. Like right now."

"You are mistak--Ah!" She pulled his earlobe into her mouth and sucked the unexpectedly tender flesh. She pulled away from him with victory written all over her face.

For once in his wooden face did she see an emotion there, anger. He stood up making her drop her arm as he began to collect his scattered weapons in silence. Cautiously she stood and began to collect her weapons as well.

She angered him and even now she could feel it still thickly in the air. She stopped and looked into the horizon. The sun brightened the sky and chased away the shadows in the trees, but not in her mind.

Finally done gathering her wits she turned towards him as he busily reasserted traps back into his puppets. "I'm sor--" "Art lasts forever. It never fades, it is immortal. Whatever you think art is, your wrong!"

His eyes were fierce and she was struck by how much emotion someone as cold as he could possess. Without even thinking she shook her head only to find moments later how wrong her reaction was to him.

His chakra strings tightened around her, immobilized her as he stood inches from her. One hand poised to strike her down as the other controlled her chains.

"You have seconds to live." Their eyes met and it was just like back in the village, he was hiding from her again. She blinked her caramel eyes to his and licked her dried lips. His sharp eyes followed her movements as she spoke.

"Although the action of art is fleeting, the memory of it is everlasting." Slowly the strings loosened and his hand that was preparing to kill her, slid across her cheek.

Nodding once he retracted from her completely before taking a look around their battle field. She remained where she was as air finally graced her lungs and her hands stopped shaking.

"We should restock in the next village. Our supplies are low but sufficient." She finished collecting her beloved weapons and had all ready taken count of how many explosive tags she'd need.

"Sounds good to me." He nodded before remembering every last detail of this moment. The sun had risen high enough to frame her, to drape her in gold. The light was perfect as was the setting, the trees lighting up behind her. As she herself stayed perfectly still, it seemed to the everlasting artist that she should be more than a shadow.

Noticing his gaze she looked towards him the question clear on her face. "I'll admit you have an interesting outlook on art. A fleeting moment coupled with an everlasting memory. Interesting indeed."

She tilted her chin up and smirked, "I thought you said I didn't look like an artist." He gave her no response merely holding his hand out in the direction in which they should head.

She took to the trees and the scorpion for several moments gazed at the rising sun. Afterwards he leapt after her having the strangest urge to immortalize her in gold.

_**I am the shadow, that passes over the sand.**_


	3. III

_**I was trying not to give you the kunoichi in this chapter but there's a hint near the end that should help you. And anyways I'm tired of having these chapters on my computer so I'm just going to post them when I'm done. Don't worry I have no intention of dropping any of my stories. If I do I'll post it but that will be unlikely. Enjoy!**_

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_**I am the leaf that quivers.**_

She thought she could do this, she thought everything would work out fine. She found out she was wrong, and when the execution date was set, she found out how wrong she was.

He was a murderer, he was the absolute worst of the worst. Scum of the earth and yet...and yet..Geez! How could she have fallen so hard? The day was set there was nothing anyone could do about it.

Not even the leader of Akatsuki could save the eldest Sharingan user. It all seemed pretty hopeless to the developed mind controller, until on a cloudy morning, an interesting idea caught her attention.

Before she even gave it much thought, she had torn into the Hokage's office and slammed her fists onto the desk. The Hokage took one look at the woman before her, panting, blonde hair neat, eyes set and firm in their determination.

"Is there something I can do for you?" Azure eyes burned with something the Hokage knew very well, "Hokage-sama I want you to let him live!" The boisterous blonde didn't have to know all the little details to know who exactly the topic of choice was.

"No! That's not even an option!" Before any other protests were made the blonde found himself pinned to the wall with a kunai pushed into his carotid artery.

"I can quell the rebellion. Give me five months, postpone the execution until then. Give me time Hokage-sama. If I achieve this goal, his life will be spared, but if I fail.."

The kunai and the woman disappeared out the opened balcony window. "If I fail, you can kill us both." The Hokage with no other choice, sat alone and waited for a powerful kunoichi to return to them.

It was a month or so before he himself figured out the details of this particular mission. She stopped coming regularly and without warning so he figured she was on an urgent mission.

It was only when her lazy teammate with the pony tail came to his cell, did he truly find out the cause of her continued disappearance. He showed no outward sign of emotion but inside he was raging, how dare she!

A mission like this had a maximum four percent life expectancy and even then, he didn't know if she was strong enough for something like this. His feelings for the girl were tight and usually well restrained but she held nothing back from him.

So in the silence of his cell did he wait for her return. Soon the five month marker was passed and the Sharingan user was suited for his execution at dawn tomorrow. It was a solemn day for the Akatsuki who would soon lose a valuable member and for Sasuke who never received his revenge.

For everyone else it would be joyous to know that the feared clan killer will soon be gone from this world. He was marched from his cell straight to the designated area to meet his demise.

He didn't look around, didn't examine who was sitting in the arena, he just knew that if she ever came back this would be her fate as well. They read him his crimes, his punishment and then they had him kneel, laying his head across a plank of wood.

This time he did look into the crowd, his eyes scanned over former Akatsuki members, Konoha shinobi and finally fell upon the cold eyes of his brother. Oh, how much this must piss him off to see his revenge taken from him.

He didn't have to have his sharingan on to know that the sword was poised to strike. Whoever was his executioner certainly was a female, he could sense her hands shake slightly.

There was a slight hesitation in which time he believed she looked towards her Hokage for the signal. Every face in the crowd varied in their expressions but he looked at none of them, for no one held his interest.

Like so many times before he heard the blade cut the air and steadied himself for the death that was sure to come. Several seconds passed and the crowd gasped.

The silence was soon cut by several counselors who jumped to their feet blurting out how the time line was over with and how she was late. At the mention of her he immediately pulled away from the chopping block.

Before his eyes, standing right beside him was her, gorgeously covered in the blood of her enemies. Her pale blonde hair glistened in the morning sunlight and it seemed for the life of him he had never seen a woman so beautiful.

One hand clutched the blade of the sword as the other carried the head of a man. Her azure eyes met his boldly, daring him to question her. Daring him to defy her and what she had done, for him.

He did not, what he did do was uncommon for an Uchiha, he smiled. It was nothing huge or grand but it still softened her features and she smiled in return. At that time both shinobi looked towards the leafs' sixth Hokage.

His blue eyes and whiskered cheeks upturned as he witnessed this small display of affection. "Uchiha-san I discharge you of all charges and release you into the custody of Yamanaka-san."

The counselors protested loudly but to no avail as the executioner pulled off the chakra-draining handcuffs. Hand in hand the two walked away, it was a small achievement for the blonde to get under his defenses but in the end it was worth it after all.

In the comfort of their apartment he held her as she shook and spilled everything she had done to set him free. She had grown and strengthened herself but compared to him, she was but a quivering leaf and he was...

_**You, the unshaken tree.**_


	4. IV

_**I actually like doing this it's nice. I'm sick of people focusing on the obvious pairings. The most common, gods that's annoying. Expand see new things! All I see is Kagome/Inuyasha, Kikyou/Inuyasha, Sakura/Everybody. Come on be different! God knows I am. Anyway here's to you strange people who love strange pairings!**_

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_**You are the stars that are steadfast.**_

It was a horrible mission he had just returned from, she could tell. The way he just walked into the room and threw everything down on the couch. She listened from the kitchen as he slammed the bathroom door closed and the shower was turned on shortly after.

She pulled the soup away from the flame before blowing it out and heading down the hall. She stepped into the bathroom and closed the door behind her. She picked up his dirty clothes and dropped them into a basket by the sink.

She could feel his chakra fluctuating with his rampant emotions. He was never good at concealing them, never felt the need to. She looked into the steaming mirror and pulled her blonde hair from the confines of its' ponytail.

She stripped herself, deposited her clothes into the basket and pulled away the curtain. He was standing under the hot water just staring at the wall as the steam rolled off of him. Under the blue hue of his skin she imagined the heat was making it raw.

Quickly stepping in she reached around him and turned the knob to a cooler temperature. His arms were straight out in front of him and she stepped closer, wrapping her arms about his waist.

She kissed his shoulder before resting her head against it. He sighed and one arm came to clasp her hand in his. There was no useless words between them, she didn't have to ask how bad it was. He didn't have to relive what was bothering him.

"Supper's on the oven you know." She felt him shift beneath her fingers and she loosened her hold long enough for him to face her. His free hand cupped her cheek bringing her lips to his as he kissed her soundlessly.

He pulled away, his amber eyes giving off a distracting allure in the shadow of the shower. "We can always reheat it you know." She found herself rolling her eyes but still running her deft fingers through his wet hair.

"It never tastes the same though." He kissed her lips as his hands wandered her body. His emotions were so unpredictable at times that she could hardly register one before he jumped to the next. He kissed his way down her neck and she shivered in his arms. The situation made every scrambled thought, every twisted feeling clear.

She had always wanted a stable man but when he showed up all she wanted was him. Funny how life at times proves you wrong in the strangest of ways and how what you think was meant to be, really isn't. He wasn't completely sane but between his warm eyes, soft smile and blue skin, she decided she wasn't really either.

_**I am the sea.**_


	5. V

_**You are the light eternal.**_

**He was immortal and that was all there was too it.**

So at the wedding she focused on the here and now. She took in his amethyst eyes, those bright teeth behind that charming, albeit slightly sadistic smile. She took everything in and realized that this was as good as it got. That from here on in, it could only level out from here.

**The emotions loomed in the back of her mind, a tidal wave waiting to drown it's victims.**

His hand tucked itself neatly into her smaller, softer one and she held onto it dearly.

**She renounced her title as head Hyuga in front of her family and it's council.**

He pulled her in tightly then twirled her in a semicircle closing in behind her and rocking with her to the tempo.

**She retired from the shinobi world in front of the sixth Hokage and his council.**

The music drummed faster and he stepped away taking her hand and having her twirl towards him, the smile never leaving their faces.

**She packed her things and left, leaving behind the childish crush that kept her there in the first place.**

His hands gripped her body, one tightly on her waist the other on the side of her neck.

**Nobody understood why she left and she didn't bother with long drawn out excuses. **

His thumb guided her chin up and he kissed her, rough and soft, desperate and calm, contradiction and not all at the same time.

**She told them that on a mission she found a love she couldn't deny, which was true because he wouldn't just let her leave. **

The kiss was fierce and relaxing at times, just like their two opposing personalities.

**She left him once and he took after her, commanded her too marry him, which for some reason she did.**

They parted for air and ran from the dance hall laughing as the fireworks boomed in the night sky.

**She didn't know how long she stayed with him before he asked her but...it was long enough for love to sneak up on them. **

The blanket was on the shore and the couple rested, one against the other, sitting back and watching the fireworks come and go, so quickly.

She knew he was immortal and it made her worry sometimes. Her life was as the fireworks and his was as the fire. For only a while will she live and thrive while he will never die. He could sense her worry and his hands wrapped further around her.

"You gotta fucking live in the here and now. Few people live forever you know." She nodded and her opal eyes met his, "I know." He bent and kissed the bridge of her nose as she smiled softly at his antics. "Come now wifey don't be sad, it's our wedding night."

She smirked and turned, taking him by surprise and jumping him all at the same time. His back hit the ground and she used her body weight to keep him pinned there. His eyebrow raised at the position that they were in but she remained where she was.

He smirked at this remembering the type of girl she was before he came by and influenced her so much. She stuttered, blushed and was so damn quiet in demeanor, it pissed him off to no end but now.. One of his hands trailed to the curve of her hips before her hand smacked it away, giggling.

"No. Bad." He started laughing as he gripped her waist and rolled over on top of her. "I have a feeling.." He whispered leaning down as she inched to get away. "That you're going to be saying that all night." Her face turned a bright red and he couldn't help but revel in her innocence even though it wasn't everlasting and she wouldn't live forever.

_**Like a torch I shall die.**_

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The words in bold are past tense if you haven't noticed. I'm just tying up loose ends in my account. Next up I'll finish 'A through Z with Akatsuki!' Oooh...I'm on a roll!


	6. VI

_**You are the surge of deep music.**_

He was a man without an identity. A man without a home, who wore the colors of the enemy just too belong. He was Akatsuki and he was the ninja world's biggest rival. Many were deterred by the pattern of red on black.

The redness that had twisted meanings in itself.

Red roses that could say, I love you or darling please die.

The blackness that hung thickly in the air after the sun set

Black weapons that glinted in the moon's pale light. Reflected in her eyes.

She must have been a god-send. An angel from above with a heart of velvet feathers and eyes as downy as the wistful clouds. He wanted to touch her to take those lips with his own and whisk her away from the hard life of ninjas.

Her pouty lips panted and her glossy hair fell into her eyes. She huffed and pushed them back as she tightened a band to keep it all in place. He watched her through lidded eyes as her green chakra enveloped her hands.

"This will only last a moment, please don't move." He couldn't move surely she could see that his legs had been broken. If the odd angles at which they were laying in was any indication. A pink tongue came and licked her bottom lip.

It was there for her to see. Black on red.

Red clouds on black fabric.

Blood on Akatsuki cloak.

Maybe she was ignoring it, her eyes were searching, stitching him up from the inside. He wanted to brush away that lock of hair that slipped from its' band. She was breathtakingly, heartachingly, beautiful and he _couldn't_ touch her.

His arms lay immobilized by his sides and she just wasn't deterred by the Akatsuki cloak that clung to him. It was branded to him and anyone else who would have come across a wounded Akatsuki member would have done him in. Why didn't she kill him? Why didn't she just leave him to die?

But one look answered all his questions and it came down to one simple answer: She couldn't. She was a goddess decreed by god to come and save his soul, it had to be true. And that had hurt him deeply. She was so untouchably beautiful and he was jaggedly scarred.

If she were to take away the remains of his broken mask she would see the torn remnants of his once childish face. He wasn't anything that could stop a woman in the street with awe. He wasn't anything like those playboys back in Konoha he was just...himself.

Loud cracks sounded as she set his broken legs, after numbing them with chakra. Then it hit him, a hard cold feeling that left him with a sense of lingering death. Akatsuki will fail. It rang true, that one statement that ushered in one mixed feeling after another.

She reappeared and her gentle hands removed the fractured orange mask from the bottom portion of his face. His eyes watched hers to see the disgust on her heavenly features. There was none.

"You've saved my life angel-eyes what can I do to ever repay you?" There was something in her eyes that reminded him of another life. A better life where he wasn't slaughtering others just to survive. Her eyes calmed, a gentle smile turned those lips.

And he wanted to kick himself for ever thinking she could feel disgust for another's plight. A warm hand on his chest brought him from his thoughts as she leaned closer. Watching through lidded eyes he admired the blush that fiercely burned on those pale cheeks.

Pale like the moon.

The kiss was just a mere press of lips but it sent his soul flying. She pulled away and breathed across his lips.

"Live." That simple word in answer to his own question was the height of his life. Nothing beyond this point mattered. Let the Akatsuki fail. Let their bodies be buried beneath Konoha soil. Let every nation celebrate with joy that the threat had passed over them.

Because nothing mattered as long as he tasted her. Weakly he raised his head and she complied. Their lips met and opened. Her kiss was gentle, that soft hand cupped his scarred cheek. And to him not even his own life mattered. He had lived long enough to understand his end in the shinobi world was coming.

But hers, this angel with opal eyes, her life was just beginning. In that moment he hoped Akatsuki crumbled. He hoped he found retribution before death. He hoped that the shinobi world would prosper. And most fervently he hoped she would live long enough to understand what he did now. Akatsuki was nothing, nothing like this moment.

And as she pulled away and disappeared silently. As his Akatsuki comrade came and carried him away he realized nothing else mattered. Nothing beyond this point would, could ever matter to him again...Because he had tasted eternity on her lips. She was the surge of deep music and...

_**I but a cry!**_

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For a moment I had no idea what I was going to write for this couple and then it suddenly evolved into this fluffy thing! Oh well the couple is usually shown to be fluffy and cute. I'm out! So read and review you!


	7. VII

All right just to clear things up the pairings were:

Tenten x Deidara

Tenten x Sasori

Ino x Itachi

Ino x Kisame

Hinata x Hidan

Hinata x Tobi

I insisted on doing pairings that weren't usual, but with any good writer they can be incredible! I dare anyone to use these pairings in their next stories! If you write it, pm (if that's the write wording) and I'll not only read it...but review it too! The bold/italic words at the top and bottom of each chapter was a line from a poem I stumbled upon. The title of the poem is called "I am the wind." I split it up into different Akatsuki pairings that weren't really used a whole hell of a lot. The author is Zoe Akins and this is the poem:

I am the wind that wavers,

You are the certain land;

I am the shadow that passes

Over the sand.

I am the leaf that quivers,

You, the unshaken tree;

You are the stars that are steadfast,

I am the sea.

You are the light eternal--

Like a torch I shall die.

You are the surge of deep music,

I but a cry!


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